Bill Pearson, president of Pearson Drilling Company in Lake City, Mich., grew up in a rural part of Missaukee County and spent his springs, summers and falls growing up driving tractors, baling hay and milking cows.
Though he had experience farming, he decided he wanted a future in engineering. He decided to go to Michigan State University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. After graduation, he spent the majority of his summers working for his uncle at an oil drilling company — reworking oil, disposal, injection and gas storage wells.